Posted on 06/08/2017 5:24:08 PM PDT by ealgeone
Question: "Is eternal security a "license" to sin?"
Answer: The most frequent objection to the doctrine of eternal security is that it supposedly allows people to live any way that they want and still be saved. While this may be "technically" true, it is not true in reality. A person who has truly been redeemed by Jesus Christ will not live a life characterized by continuous, willful sin. We must draw a distinction between how a Christian should live and what a person must do in order to receive salvation.
The Bible is clear that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6). The moment a person truly believes in Jesus Christ, he or she is saved and secure in that salvation. It is unbiblical to say that salvation is received by faith, but then has to be maintained by works. The apostle Paul addresses this issue in Galatians 3:3 when he asks, "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" If we are saved by faith, our salvation is also maintained and secured by faith. We cannot earn our own salvation. Therefore, neither can we earn the maintenance of our salvation. It is God who maintains our salvation (Jude 24). It is God's hand that holds us firmly in His grasp (John 10:28-29). It is God's love that nothing can separate us from (Romans 8:38-39).
Any denial of eternal security is, in its essence, a belief that we must maintain our own salvation by our own good works and efforts. This is completely antithetical to salvation by grace. We are saved because of Christ's merits, not our own (Romans 4:3-8). To claim that we must obey God's Word or live a godly life to maintain our salvation is saying that Jesus' death was not sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus' death was absolutely sufficient to pay for all of our sins—past, present, and future, pre-salvation and post-salvation (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Does this mean that a Christian can live any way he wants to and still be saved? This is essentially a hypothetical question, because the Bible makes it clear that a true Christian will not live "any way he wants to." Christians are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christians demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), not the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). First John 3:6-9 clearly states that a true Christian will not live in continual sin. In response to the accusation that grace promotes sin, the apostle Paul declared, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2).
Eternal security is not a license to sin. Rather, it is the security of knowing that God's love is guaranteed for those who trust in Christ. Knowing and understanding God's tremendous gift of salvation accomplishes the opposite of giving a license to sin. How could anyone, knowing the price Jesus Christ paid for us, go on to live a life of sin (Romans 6:15-23)? How could anyone who understands God's unconditional and guaranteed love for those who believe, take that love and throw it back in God's face? Such a person is demonstrating not that eternal security has given him a license to sin, but rather that he or she has not truly experienced salvation through Jesus Christ. "No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him" (1 John 3:6).
My posts on this thread are motivated by a desire to counter the excuse to sin inspired by the thought “all Christians are sinners.”
I’m no more able to overcome the flesh without Christ than any other believer.
All Christians sin.
There's a difference between calling Christians sinners and recognizing that we sin far more than we realize.
Christians, genuine born from above, regenerated Christians, are saints.
However I doubt there's a one of us in that category who would not admit that we sin an awful lot.
It honestly is not possible to go long without sinning somehow.
Unless you are unconscious.
But,
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1 John 3:6-10
Is it possible to speak without lying?
Is it possible to conduct business without stealing?
Can a person worship God the Creator while ignoring other gods?
Can a person live their daily lives while avoiding fornication and adultery?
Can a man see a woman, be tempted to look at her in lust and then turn away from her?
Can a person begin to hate their neighbor in anger or covetousness, but in the moment repent in their heart and turn from this sin?
Turning from sin is a work.
That’s why you better hope it’s the Lord turning you and not you doing it by yourself.
And if there is no turning from sin in your life, something’s very wrong.
Have you not read Romans 7?
We ALL have a sin nature which wars within us with the new regenerated sinless nature.
Paul himself had that struggle and ALL of us do.
And yes, I can speak without lying, etc, but the motive of my heart is what the Lord looks at, not just the mere actions.
I would propose that it is possible to keep God’s Law perfectly to the letter. Jesus even acknowledged it when addressing the pharisees, but then in the Beatitudes, He raised the bar higher.
MUCH MUCH higher.
He went on to show that ALL of us, even those most outwardly perfect, sin almost continually.
But there is a world of difference between sinning because we have a strong sin nature and actively pursuing a life of sin.
I am sure that we all sin more than we realize and those who claim that they don’t sin, or know how much they do, are deluding themselves.
Not all sin is intentional. It doesn’t have to be intentional to be sin.
I don’t think I’ve claimed anything about my own sin in this thread. Maybe the responses to me are related to an inference about that. I’m not making any claim other than the Lord has turned me from sin, but I struggle daily against the flesh like any other Christian.
In Romans we learn to walk in the spirit, not in the flesh. It’s that simple. And we can only do it with the help of the Lord.
I am only motivated to post in this thread because I know how God’s enemy uses subtle deception. One of these ways is to make Christians think “All Christians sin, so I might as well do what I’m gonna do.” So they defile their neighbor’s wife, or pursue love of money, or whatever.
Again, all I’m interested in is warning people about this.
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